BEST JAPANESE-MAID CAFÉ (2009)

Royal/T café-gallery-shop has much to offer by way of delicious things, not least of which is cute little Asian-girl waitresses dressed up as French maids. Is it surprising that the nation's first Japanese "maid café" opened here in Los Angeles? Maybe. We are lucky that we don't have to travel to Tokyo's Akihabara district, the epicenter of the maid-café cosplay phenomenon, to dine in this kind of splendor. While the gals at Royal/T may not exactly kneel at your table when they pour your matcha milk-tea (Royal/T's is excellent), or call you "master" when they deliver your omelette, or spoon-feed you brioche, or blow on your food if it's too hot, like the Akihabara maids do — at least, not that I've seen — they are plenty accommodating. Still sad? Console yourself by staring at the café's impressive selection of art — the Murakamis, the Naras, the Kaws sculptures, the Jennifer Steinkamp tree-video projection swirling in the baroque-rococo lounge room. Or buy yourself a weird little something-something from the exquisitely curated shop. A giant stuffed vinyl squid? A big-eyed Blythe doll? Those you can take home with you to molest. 8910 Washington Blvd., Culver City. (310) 559 6300, royal-t.org.